People around the world face violence and inequality – and sometimes torture, even execution – because of who they love, how they look, or who they are.

Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of our selves and should never lead to discrimination or abuse.

Human Rights Watch works for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people’s rights, with activists representing a multiplicity of identities and issues.

We document and expose abuses based on sexual orientation and gender identity worldwide – including torture, killing and executions, arrests under unjust laws, unequal treatment, censorship, medical abuses, discrimination in health and jobs and housing, domestic violence, abuses against children, and denial of family rights and recognition.

We advocate for laws and policies that will protect everyone’s dignity. We work for a world where all people can enjoy their rights fully.

Demonstrators protest as members of the NYPD march during the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York March 17, 2014. About one million spectators, mostly dressed in green, streamed into New York for its St. Patrick's Day Parade, even as the city's mayor and beer companies that previously sponsored the event dropped out, amid concerns that organizers excluded gay groups.

Leaders of the European Union, France, Germany, and Switzerland should raise pressing human rights concerns and seek commitments to address them from Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambaev. The Kyrgyzstan leader is visiting Brussels and European capitals from March 22 to April 1, 2015.

Human Rights Watch and several partners, The New York City Bar Association, US; Canadian Civil Liberties Association (“CCLA”), Canada; The National Council for Civil Liberties (“Liberty”), UK; Legal Resources Centre (“LRC”), South Africa; Center for Legal and Social Studies (“CELS”), and La Federación Argentina de Lesbianas, Gays, Bisexuales y Trans (“FALGBT”), Argentina; submitted an Amicus Brief to the United States Supreme Court in the case Obergefell v. Hodges about marriage equality.

We write in advance of your upcoming pre-sessional review of the Iranian government’s compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Informed by Human Rights Watch’s recent investigations, including firsthand research with children, this submission contains findings on Iran’s treatment of child offenders, migrant and refugee children, and children that belong to, or are perceived to belong to, the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender) community.